XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: leroyblue@sjrb.ca   
      
   The fudgepackers shit all over themselves today.   
      
   NEW ORLEANS —   
      
   A federal judge upheld Louisiana's ban on same-sex marriages on   
   Wednesday, a rare loss for gay marriage supporters who had won   
   more than 20 consecutive rulings overturning bans in other   
   states.   
      
   U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman also upheld the state's   
   refusal to recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in   
   other states. His ruling was the first to uphold a state ban   
   since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the federal   
   Defense of Marriage Act last year.   
      
   Feldman himself acknowledged that his won't be the final word.   
   "Clearly, many other courts will have an opportunity to take up   
   the issue of same-sex marriage; courts of appeals and, at some   
   point, the U.S. Supreme Court," he wrote. "The decision of this   
   Court is but one studied decision among many."   
      
   Gay rights advocates said they would carry the case to the 5th   
   U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which already has before it an   
   appeal by the state of Texas of another federal judge's ruling   
   that struck down that state's gay marriage ban.   
      
   In 2004, 78 percent of Louisiana voters approved an amendment to   
   the state constitution banning gay marriage. Gay marriage is   
   legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia.   
      
   Isabel Medina, a professor at the Loyola University New Orleans   
   law school, said she didn't see the ruling as a significant road   
   block for gay marriage advocates. Even a 5th Circuit decision   
   upholding Feldman's ruling would affect only three states:   
   Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, she noted.   
      
   It's likely the Texas case will be the first to go to the 5th   
   Circuit, and cases elsewhere likely will reach the Supreme Court   
   before Louisiana's, said Professor Carl Tobias of the University   
   of Richmond School of Law in Virginia. Nevertheless, he said,   
   Feldman's ruling is significant.   
      
   "It is important, because Feldman is a very experienced federal   
   district judge, and no other federal judge has ruled that way at   
   the trial level," Tobias said in a telephone interview. Feldman   
   was appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.   
      
   Feldman said gay marriage supporters failed to prove that the   
   ban violates equal protection or due process provisions of the   
   U.S. Constitution. He also rejected an argument that the ban   
   violated the First Amendment by effectively forcing legally   
   married gay couples to state that they are single on Louisiana   
   income tax returns.   
      
   Feldman sided with the state, which had argued that the nation's   
   high court, in the Defense of Marriage Act decision, recognized   
   the rights of state voters and legislatures to define marriage.   
      
   "Although opinions about same-sex marriage will understandably   
   vary among the states, and other states in free and open debate   
   will and have chosen differently, that does not mandate that   
   Louisiana has overstepped its sovereign authority," he wrote.   
      
   The conservative Louisiana Family Forum praised the ruling.   
      
   "This ruling confirms that the people of Louisiana -- not the   
   federal courts -- have the constitutional right to decide how   
   marriage is defined in this state," Gene Mills, the group's   
   president, said in a news release.   
      
   Gay marriage advocates argued that the ban violated   
   constitutional due process and equal-protection rights.   
      
   "Every citizen of the United States deserves protection of their   
   rights, uphill climb or not," said Mary Griggs, chairwoman of   
   Forum for Equality Louisiana.   
      
   Feldman said the Supreme Court decision "correctly discredited"   
   the Defense of Marriage Act's effect on New York law legalizing   
   same-sex unions. But he also noted language in the decision   
   outlining the states' historic authority to recognize and define   
   marriage.   
      
   He also said that neither the Supreme Court nor the 5th Circuit   
   has defined gay people as a protected class in discrimination   
   cases.   
      
   "In light of still-binding precedent, this Court declines to   
   fashion a new suspect class. To do so would distort precedent   
   and demean the democratic process," Feldman wrote.   
      
   The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is currently considering   
   arguments over six gay marriage cases from Michigan, Ohio,   
   Kentucky and Tennessee. Two other appellate courts, the 10th   
   Circuit in Denver and the 4th Circuit in Virginia, have   
   overturned statewide gay marriage bans in Oklahoma, Utah and   
   Virginia. However, those rulings and others overturning gay   
   marriage bans have been put on hold while appeals are considered.   
      
   http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2024450256_apxgaymarria   
   gelouisiana.html   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)